In Herminston, a city in Oregon, two small UAVs should start taking photographs of Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center’s (HAREC) potato fields as a part of agricultural research.
The project is managed by Oregon State University which has gotten two UAVs on a lease from Boeing Research & Technology, the HawkEye and the Unicorn. The first aircraft is manufactured by Tetracam, weighs 8 pounds and can remain airborne for up to 30 minutes. It uses a propeller and 4 wheels to take off and then is kept in air by a parachute. The second UAV is made by Procerus Technologies, is even lighter and uses a slingshot mechanism to take off.
The aim of the project is to be able to identify unhealthy plants as early as possible to prevent profit losses. The researchers will lower the supply of water and fertilizers to certain plants and then will try to identify them on the photographs supplied by the UAVs. The photographs will be taken using light of different wavelengths, such as infrared light, to find out the best method of identifying the previously selected plants.
“The key is to pick up plants that are just beginning to show stress so you can find a solution quickly, so the grower doesn’t have any reduced yield or quality issues. This in turn can save money. It’s an early warning system for plants with issues as well as an opportunity for growers to reduce costs by being more efficient in water and fertilizer use.”
Phil Hamm, the director of HAREC
Potatoes were chosen as the researched crop because of the high costs required to properly grow them at a large scale and their proneness to suffering from devastating diseases and attracting pests. In Hermiston, the farmers usually have to pay about $4,000 per acre, and given the size of the field being around 120 acres, it equates to about $500,000. That certainly is not pocket change!
“They are one of the most difficult and expensive crops to grow“
Don Horneck, an agronomist with the OSU Extension Service.
The area of research will be over 50 acres of OSU’s 300-acre HAREC and about 1,000 acres of a research cooperative farm west of Boardman, and the flights will be performed atleast thrice a week. The general public is invited to observe the HawkEye during its action on June 26.
In my opinion, this is one of the many extremely useful uses of unmanned aircraft in today’s world and it could help mankind attain a more sustainable future.
Image credit: Tetracam
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